Without Question
by Ksiezniczka
Summary: Blurr has a lot of secrets. For one, his whole body is so hyped with Energon, no-one can touch him without getting burned by the energy he leaks off. This is a problem for Blurr in a relationship....
1. I'd Believe in Anything

**Because starting even more multi-chaptered fics is exactly what I need to do in my busy schedule, right? To be fair, I'm the only person who ever does anything for this couple, even though they kissed in canon. (I'm not making it up!) So I figure why the hell not? I have to give them some love! Though if anyone else ever wrote a Hardhead and Blurr love story, you would make me a very very happy girl! Please? Anyone?**

**Well, this is also an answer to a prompt at the tf bunny farm on LJ. So, yes. And it may not get another chapter if no one likes it. I have some ideas, though. We'll see.**

**I don't own any of the characters. I don't even own the name "Silvermist" which is used a couple times - I saw it in a costume catalog!**

oOo

There was more to Blurr than other Autobots realised. Most saw him running by one day for a split second - barely enough time to make a lasting impression - and dismissed him as an extremely fast, if slightly panicky young bot. That's all he was to them was the runner. No one questioned his reasons. Which is just how Blurr wanted it.

Had they asked, what would he say? They wouldn't understand if he tried to tell them what happened. Nobody understood that he was running from these memories for a reason. He didn't want to remember. He didn't want...

oOo

_"Sh," his creator had told the blue youngling, hiding him in an energon storage pantry in hopes that the strange, winged mechs that were ravaging the city - Decepticons, they had called themselves - would not find the hidden young mech. _

_Blurr hid, being quiet like his creator had instructed. He didn't yell out when three Decepticons burst into his home. Didn't make a peep as he watched them tear his creator limb from limb, blue fluids splattering the walls. He hid, systems feeling cold with the fear as he tried to back up even further into the tiny pantry, to get as far away from these monsters as he could. That they could take another life with such ease and such _laughter _frightened the youngling so much that even if he had wanted to scream, he wouldn't be able to._

_Unfortunately, he had backed up a bit too much, knocking over a few energon cubes in the process. The clear cubes hitting the ground had never sounded so loud in his audio receptors before that night._

_One of the fliers walked over, opened the pantry door, smirked -_

_"Hey," the flier had leered down at him, eyes glowing viciously. "Look what I found."_

_He had tried to run, but he hadn't been fast enough. The three fliers had laughed as they tossed him between one another roughly. They laughed when he protested, when he squirmed as they shoved each other, each trying to plug into the youngling, to have their way with him._

_They spared his life. Even as a youngling, he wished they'd taken it. And, about two joors later, when an old, light green mech found him there starving and scarred, he still wanted to die._

_The old veteran Kup didn't allow it. He took Blurr under his wing, trained him to become a soldier to fight those cruel, sparkless Decepticons. And once he found a new purpose to live, Blurr stopped starving himself and began to consume more fuel than he had back home. Now that he had been upgraded, he could have pure energon. The energy coursing through his systems allowed him to run faster than ever before. That was when Blurr discovered he had a gift. So he focused more and more energy into developing the gift of speed, using it to escape his past._

_But soon energon became harder and harder to come by._

_"You can't hold out like this forever, lad," Kup had warned him. "Energy's not what it used to be."_

_The Autobots - for that's what those fighting the Decepticons had began calling themselves - looked for energy traces all over the universe, even losing a ship called the "Ark" in the process. Blurr was placed on a squad under a mech called Ultra Magnus when they detected an energy source on a planet called Byrelios-14. When they'd gotten there, it had looked like energon flowing in the geyser. And it had been. Just... not the same energon they were used to back on Cybertron._

_"Blurr, don't!" the next-youngest on their squad, excluding himself - a femme called Arcee - warned him as he ran down, hardly believing his optics. He passed her too fast to hear the rest of her warning, "It's too unstable! You could get hurt!"_

_"Soldier, come back at once! This stuff is useless; we're going back to Cybertron!"_

_He soon found himself wishing he had listened to Arcee and Ultra Magnus._

oOo

"Blurr, right?"

"Gah!" the speedster jumped up. He had been so lost in his thoughts there in the alleyway in Autobot City, he hadn't heard anyone else coming. Lifting a hand to his face briefly to make sure he hadn't been crying - Frag, he had - he looked at the other mech - and was surprised at who he was.

Hardhead had only arrived at Autobot City two Earth-months ago. Blurr had never spoken to the green tank, but knew from gossip that they were polar opposites. Springer had called the tank "Steady as a rock - with about as much personality as one too!" The others had been a bit nicer about it, calling him words like "blunt", but remarking on his abilities on the battlefield.

"Hardhead," Blurr acknowledged the other, feeling embarrassed as he wiped tear streaks from his face. Not even able to look the other in the visor, he blurted out, "sorryifIbumpedintoyouonmywayouthere, I, uh, didn'tmeanto... itwon'thappenagain... oh, andIsupposeyou'reprobablywondering_why_Icameouthere, well, uh, thatis-"

"I don't care _why_ you're out here," the green mech shrugged.

"Sorry."

"Why are you sorry? You haven't done anything."

Not knowing how to answer that, Blurr changed the subject, "IhavesometrainingexercisesthatItoldRodimusI'ddo, soifit'sallthesametoyou, I'lljustgonow-"

"Stop," Hardhead hardened his expression, somehow making it very clear he saw right through Blurr's lie. "Sit."

"But-"

"Do I frighten you?"

"Wellnonotreallybut-"

"Then quit trying so hard," the tank sank down to sit against the wall. "Sit."

"..." For once, Blurr was at a loss for words. He sat back down, sniffling pathetically, then feeling stupid for doing so.

"It doesn't do any good to hold it in."

Blurr nodded, taking in those nine words, before burying his face in his knees and letting the sobs wrack his frame. Hardhead made no move to comfort him in any way; instead just waiting it out. When the crying finally subsided, the speedster wiped his face, but didn't say anything.

"You don't have to explain it," Hardhead told him.

"But..." Blurr tried to wrap his head around the words. Before, if someone had happened to catch him in a flashback, they'd always want him to open up to them, which of course, due to what had happened before, he just couldn't do. "Ifyoudidn'twanttoknowwhathappened, thenwhy-"

"I'm not sparkless," the tank answered with a shrug. "If I see a comrade who needs something, I give it to 'em."

Not really knowing what else to do, Blurr muttered "Sorry..."

Hardhead gave him a long stare. "Stop apologising. You aren't doing anything."

He still had no idea how to reply to it, but the awkward silence was unbearable, so the blue speedster sighed and looked up. "There'sanawfullotofstarsouttonight."

"Hn," Hardhead grunted.

Blurr sighed again. The other clearly wasn't one for idle chatter. "Tobeperfectlyhonest, Ineversawwhyanyonelikedstarssomuch. Myroommatecan'tstandthataboutme. Thenagain, I don'tthinkmyroommatecanstandanythingaboutme. Mostofthetime, though, Idon'treallymindit. Alotofmechsdon'tlikemeverymuch, butthat'stheirproblem, right?" He chuckled nervously when Hardhead hesitated to reply.

The green mech pulled a datapad out of his subspace compartment, and scribbled something on it before handing it off to Blurr. "If you ever need anything, that's my room's access code." With a final nod, he stood and left Blurr to wonder what the slag had just happened.

oOo

Blurr never used the access code Hardhead had given him. Arcee, when she found out about it, teased him, but what did she know? She didn't know what had happened to him. She didn't know, didn't understand why Blurr didn't care that so many mechs hated him so. He'd rather them be annoyed with him than hurt them with all his secrets.

It was better this way, Blurr told himself as he made his way to guard shift. Hardhead was a good guy - which is why Blurr didn't want to get involved. Or at least he told himself he didn't.

Nobody told whoever was in charge of assigning shifts, though.

"Hardhead!" Blurr was surprised at who he was working with that night. "Youhaveguardshifttonighttoo!?"

The other didn't answer, just gave him a look, gesturing for Blurr to sit down if he wanted to. Timidly, the blue sat, keeping his distance just the same. The silence seemed like it lasted for vorns.

"Feeling better?" Hardhead finally asked.

"Yes!" The blue forced a smile, nodding vigourously.

The tank gave him a look. "You're lying."

"Wellnotexactly," Blurr admitted. "Imean, Ihaven'thadanotherflashbacksinceyoufoundmethatnight. Ineverthankedyouforthat, didI? IguessIshouldthankyounow, though, sothanks. Anyway, it'snotthatI'masbadasIwasthen - I'mnotusuallythatmuchofacrybaby - anditisn'tthatIdon'tgetalongwithArceeandSpringer, but..." he trailed off. "Forgetit. It'sstupid."

"Does it bother you?" Hardhead used the tone of voice one might use with a child, and Blurr twitched, but answered honestly anyway:

"Yeah. ButI'musedtoit."

"If it bothers you then it's not stupid."

"Youdon'tunderstand. It'sbetterthatIdon'tgetclosetoanybody. Iknowthatbetterthananybodyhere. Itdoesn'tstopmefromgettinglonely, though. ArceeandSpringerhaveeachother. Me, evenmyroommatehatesme!" Here, Blurr sighed. "Itoldyouitwasstupid."

Hardhead gave Blurr an indescribable look, not really knowing what Blurr was talking about. It was obvious to the soldier that the young speedster had some sort of fear of getting close to others. Impulsively, he reached out to place a comforting hand on Blurr's shoulder...

No sooner had he made contact did he draw back in pain and shock. What the slag...?

Blurr looked up miserably. "Unlessyouwantyourhandmeltingoff, orwhateverhappens - I'mnotthatsure - Idon'tthinkyoushouldtrytouchingmeagain. Sorryaboutthat."

The tank looked down at his throbbing hand, then back to Blurr. After the pain had mostly subsided, he asked, "Is that why you're afraid of everyone?"

"I'mnotafraidofeveryone!" the younger mech protested. "I'mjustafraidofwhatIcoulddotoeveryone. HaveyouheardoftheunstableenergyriftonByrelios-14? Well, Iwasinthesquadthatdiscoveredit."

"The energy streams there are supposed to be deadly," Hardhead nodded. He'd heard about it.

"Theyare," Blurr squirmed uncomfortably. "Silvermistwasdeactivatedtryingtogetmeoutofthere. Idon'tknowwhyPrimussparedme. ItmakesmefasterthanIeverdreamedpossible, andIdon'thavetotakeinmorefuelthanaminibot, butIcan'tgetclosetoanyone. It'sjustaswell, Iguess. I'mnotstupid, youknow. IknowI'mannoying."

"You don't annoy me," the green tank answered. Blurr was so taken aback, he just gaped for a few breems before composing himself.

"That'sextremelyniceofyou. ButIwouldn'tbethatoffendedifyoukeptyourdistance."

"You still have that access code?"

"Yeah?"

"Like I told you," the tank began - "If you _ever _need _anything_, you-" He was cut off by the sound of jet turbines overhead.

"Decepticons!" Blurr jumped up.

"Sound the alarm; I'll hold 'em off," Hardhead instructed. He didn't need to tell Blurr twice. The blue mech ran towards the alarm, but instead ran smack into one of the sweeps.

The last coherent thought he had before being knocked out was_ 'slag'._

oOo

"Blurr? Can you hear me?"

He struggled to move his head. Why did it feel so heavy? Slag it, he didn't want to move it anyway. He was too tired and his CPU ached too much.

"Blurr, stay with us. Do you hear me?"

His head was so clouded, he couldn't recognise the voice. He slurred, "Silvermist? Izza'you?"

"Blurr, Silvermist died vorns ago!" another voice - no, it was the same one. He was beginning to come to his senses. "Can you online your optics?"

He powered them up to find he was in the Med Bay. "Arcee? Whattheslaghappened?"

"He's still talking a mile a minute, so we know he isn't _too_ damaged," Springer was there too. Of course. He was never far from Arcee lately.

"Scourge and the sweeps happened," Arcee answered. "Hardhead was able to hold them off til Springer and the others-"

"Hardhead!" Blurr shot up, then clutched at his head, immediately wishing he hadn't. "Isheokay? He'snottoohurt, ishe? Imean, he'sagoodfighterso..."

"Um..." Arcee looked down, gesturing with her hand towards a nearby berth.

"Hardhead..." Blurr gaped.

"Hn," Hardhead nodded to the best of his ability. His face looked like it normally did, but his body looked as if it'd been splattered with acid. Or with Byrelian energon.

"He carried you here," First Aid, who was currently working on the tank's damaged circuitry, confirmed what Blurr had already guessed.

"Why?"

"It wouldn't be very Autobot-like to just leave you out there," the pink femme answered for the tank. "He had no way of knowing."

"Buthedidknow! Itoldhim!" He turned to the damaged soldier. "Itoldyounottotouchmeorelseyou'dgetdamaged! Why'dyougobackforme!?"

"Quit yelling," Hardhead answered. "I told you if you needed anything, I'd be there."

"You can go, Blurr," First Aid informed the speedster. "Other than a nasty bump on the head, you actually weren't damaged that bad."

"...anything?" Blurr had totally ignored the medic while processing Hardhead's comment.

"Didn't I tell you that four times?" the tank on the nearby berth sounded half-annoyed and half-bemused.

Choosing not to say anything in return, Blurr slid off the berth and, as slowly as anyone in the room had seen him move, calmly left the Med Bay.

oOo

It took three Earth-days for First Aid and the medical team to repair Hardhead. And of course, they had to do his legs last. The first thing he wanted to do when he was able to walk was either get over-energised, or go recharge. In the end, he chose the second option, and made his way back to his quarters.

When he got there, he was mildly confused. Why did his room smell like energon goodies and... oil?

"FirstAiddidareallygoodjoboffixingyou."

He whirled around to see Blurr sitting on the floor, nibbling on an energon goody and periodically looking at it, as if he were trying to chew it into a certain shape. Looking at the plate in front of the racer, Hardhead could see why - Blurr appeared to be making tiny mech-shaped edible sculptures.

"I'msorrytobargeinherelikethis, butInevergotachancetothankyouforbringingmetoMedBay, and..." he trailed off, avoiding eye contact.

"'And'?"

"MyroommateandIgotintoafight..." Blurr looked down at his energon-and-oil mechs sadly. "Iwaskindahopingyou'dletmecrashhere, justfortonight..."

"You can move in if you want," Hardhead shrugged, pointing out the spare berth with his chin.

"Really? Afterallthathappened? Whataboutyourroommate?"

"Don't have one. Figured you'd rather be with someone who likes you than the glitch you complain about now."

"You... youlikeme?" Blurr was unable to stop the corners of his mouth from turning up a bit. Hardhead realised it was small, but nonetheless the first genuine smile he'd seen on the younger mech. "Ithoughtnobodylikesme..."

"You calling Arcee, Kup, Springer, and me nobody?"

The blue mech's smile grew as he held up one of the energon-mechs he'd been working on. "Imadeyou. Youcantellbecauseofthebigshouldercannon."

Being careful not to let their fingers touch, Hardhead took the edible version of him, inspecting it and realising the second one must have been Blurr. The real Blurr had been trying to shape an energon goody to resemble the crest on his helm.

Suddenly, Hardhead smirked, the most emotion Blurr had ever seen on the tank. He scooped up the energon-Blurr and lightly kissed it on the nose before returning it to its namesake.

"Whatthefragwasthatfor?" the real Blurr gave Hardhead a strange look, feeling heat rise to his faceplates.

"Because I can't kiss the real you," the green mech answered pointedly.

"You'reactingweird," the racer laughed.

"I'm probably still recovering from all that medication," Hardhead nodded. "You don't like it?"

"IjustneverthoughtI'dhaveanyonewantingtodothattome. EspeciallyafterfindingoutaboutByrelios-14."

"So you don't want to kiss me?"

Blurr looked at the green mech's visor, smiling. "Iwanttokissyou, Hardhead."

Hardhead lifted the energon-and-oil version of himself. "Then do it."

Lip components curving into his own devilish smirk, the blue speedster lifted his on energon-mech and pressed it to Hardhead's, making the two edible mechs kiss.

And for the first time in a very long time, he felt happy.

-_fin?-_

**Ugh, this could have been better. Oh well. What'd you think? Should I continue it or leave it as is?**

**Leave kind reviews!**


	2. Were It Not For You

**Okay, you all got me... This gets continued... hopefully the pacing will be better this chapter, as I don't think I did my best last chapter... Still, it served it's purpose. This pairing is getting more fans, like it deserves! I am so happy!**

**Oh, I have a question. When I wrote the first chapter, I wasn't sure whether I would expand or not, so I didn't bother creating an outline with a lot of backstory info, which I usually do. Thus, Blurr's ex-roommate - you know, the mean one? - I don't know who they are. Which Autobot do you think? They don't need to be super mean; just the type whose personality would clash totally with Blurr's. Suggestions will be very appreciated.**

**I don't own any of the characters. **

oOo

"Don'ttellanyone! I'vemademoreenemiesthanfriends, andIdon'tthinkI'dbeabletoforgivemyselfifothersbegantakingthingsoutonyoujustbecauseofme, soifit'sallthesame, don'ttellanyonethatwe're... well, youknowehatweare. Soyeah, don'ttell, okay?"

"...okay..."

oOo

"You seem... different than usual..."

"Wha-?" Blurr jumped a bit. He had been lost in thought, standing by a wall in the rec room. "Oh, heyBumblebeeIdidn'tseeyouthere."

"Yeah, I get that a lot," the minibot grinned up at the speedster. Blurr didn't talk to Bumblebee much, but he did like the minibot well enough. "So what's up?"

"Up?" Without really thinking, Blurr looked up at the ceiling before remembering it was a human phrase. He chuckled to himself at the error, before asking, "Whatdoyoumean?"

"Well, I heard from Powerglide that you moved out of your room."

The blue mech hesitated - how on Cybertron did Powerglide, of all 'bots, find out about that? - before nodding. "Yeah, ImovedtoaroominSector37. Ididn'tthinkitmadethatmuchofadifferenceanyhow. IalreadytoldRodimus, soit'snotlikeI'mdoinganythingbehindhisback."

The yellow paused as he took in all the words. "So, uh... you happy in your new room? Because you've been smiling non-stop for days."

"IguessIwasbeingkindofobvious, wasn'tI?"

"Who is it?" Bumblebee grinned. "Is he any good?"

"Goodatwhat?" Again, Blurr was confused - before finally understanding what Bumblebee was implying. "N-nothinglikethatishappening!" It wasn't technically a lie.

"Sure..."

"Imeanit! Nothingisgoingon. Iswitchedrooms, whydoesthathavetomeanI'minterfacingwithsomeone?"

"Alright, Bumblebee, leave him alone," a third voice behind Blurr interrupted his tirade. Kup was standing there, flanked by, of course, Arcee and Springer. Bumblebee visibly wilted a little.

"I was only teasing him a bit. As long as you're happy, Blurr, I don't mind what you're doing," the minibot shrugged before walking off, being careful not to make eye contact with the femme or the triplechanger. Blurr sighed - was he the only mech on this crew that didn't have a thing for Arcee?

"The nerve of some 'bots," Kup muttered gruffly, neglecting to remember that they didn't really have nerves.

"Oh, Bumblebee was just having some fun," Arcee grinned.

"You need to loosen up, Kup," Springer added.

"Keh," Kup snorted distastefully at the pair, then turned back to Blurr. "So?"

"So...?" the speedster watched as they all gave him expectant looks.

"Don't play coy - seriously, who is it?" Arcee was the first to say anything.

Blurr felt his faceplates heating up. "What!? Haseverybodygoneabsolutelyinsane? Whydoestheresuddenlyhavetobesomethinggoingon? Whycan'tIjusthavemyownprivatelifeanymore?"

"We're going to find out eventually, you know, so you might as well just tell us," Springer replied.

The blue speedster shifted his weight from foot to foot uneasily. He knew they were right, and he did hate keeping things from his good friends, especially Kup. Finally, he burst out, "Fine! ButyougottaswearontheMatrixthatyouwon'ttellanybody!"

This was blurted out even faster than normal, even for Blurr, so it took the trio a bit longer to understand. Kup was the first to nod that he promised, followed by the other two once Arcee deciphered the quick sentence.

Blurr's next sentence was mumbled so softly, though, it was unintelligible.

"Uh... little louder?" Springer egged him on. He mumbled again in reply.

"Spit it out, lad!" Kup exclaimed.

"It'sHardheadokay!?" he blurted out. Miraculously, nobody else in the rec. room seemed to care about him enough to be paying attention to the short outburst.

After a pause, Springer asked, perhaps sarcastically, "Seriously, who is it?" Arcee elbowed him in the side, adding her own input before Blurr could get too flustered:

"Well I think that's just great! Don't you, Kup?"

"Eh. As long as you're both happy, I could really care less," the older mech shrugged.

"Really?" the speedster smiled. Kup's approval was very important to him, after all. Seeing the somewhat shy smile, Kup gruffly replied:

"Sure, kid. Hardhead's not a bad guy."

"I think you'll be good for each other!" Arcee nodded her agreement.

"Thanksguys!" Blurr beamed. "I'mgladyouthinkso - Iwaskindanervousyou'ddisapprove."

"So what?" Springer chimed in. "Even if we did, you shouldn't give a slag. We'd deal."

"Uh, thankyouSpringer, Ithink..." he trailed off when he realised other conversations in the room had all trailed off as well, with the arrival of a not-too-happy-looking Rodimus Prime.

"Frag," Kup cursed. "Poor kid. I'll catch up with you three later." With that as a parting, the old mech walked over to the young leader, leaving Blurr and the others where they stood.

Witnessing the old mech consoling Rodimus, Springer smirked as he turned to Arcee. "I thought _you_ dumped _him_."

Her eloquent response was to elbow the triplechanger in the side again.

oOo

"ItoldArcee, Springer, andKuptoday."

It was later on, and Blurr was lying back on his berth, while Hardhead sat up tinkering with his huge shoulder cannon in the other berth. When the statement got no reply from the green mech, Blurr continued:

"Y'know, aboutusand... wellwhateveritisthatwehave. Imean, Ididn'tgointodetailsoranything, buttheyknowthatwe're, well, whateverthereisforthemtoknowthatweare."

Not looking up, Hardhead replied, after a pause, "I thought you didn't want anyone to know."

"Idon'twantanyoneelsetoknow, butthosethreearemybestfriendsbesidesHotRod - that'swhoRodimususedtobebeforehegotallmatureanddepressing - andIcan'tgokeepingsecretsfrommybestfriends! EspeciallyKup, notafterallhe'sdoneforme. Heraisedme, providedforme, trainedme... Kupevenusedtosingtome, whenIhadtroublesleepingwhenIwasyounger..." Blurr trailed off, as if he'd said something he wasn't supposed to.

"Something wrong?"

"Ohnonotatall..." the blue mech answered quietly, then did that nervous laugh that the tank realised meant something was, in fact, wrong.

Hardhead sighed. He didn't particularly want to say anything that would set the other off, but knew for a fact the blue mech couldn't handle silence for very long. "Well... I don't sing."

"Really? That'snotwhatChromedometoldme. Hesaidyousingallthetime, andapparentlyreallyloudlyandnotverywell. HesaidifIeverwantedtohearyou, allIhadtodowasgetyoucompletelyslaggin'overenergised. HeevensaidyouwereafunnierdrunkthanJazz, thoughJazzhasn'treallybeensobermuchlatelysinceeveryonediedtryingtofightoffUnicron..."

Hardhead growled, making a mental note to smack Chromedome upside the head sometime. But at least Blurr was rambling on about his supposed drunken hijinks too much to feel depressed about his mysterious past.

oOo

He was kissing him.

He was kissing him, and oh, it felt so much more wonderful than he'd ever imagined in all the stellar cycles he'd been online, and he could see why they had adapted this practise. He no longer wondered why other couples had to do this all the time - now it was more of how could they ever stop? How did anyone walk around _not_ joined at the mouth components with someone else?

"Hardhead," he murmured in between kisses. "Doyouloveme?"

"You know I do," the other replied, and moved back in to continue the action. Blurr offlined his optics to feel all the sensations, and was surprised by a mouthful of liquid.

What on Cybertron was _this _new development?

He onlined his visual systems to see hat was going on - and was shocked to see Hardhead standing back, literally melting away, like the witch in "Wizard of Oz". Blurr recoiled in horror as the half-liquidated mech slowly came closer, closer...

"Gah!" Blurr shot up, fluids racing through his systems in fear. It took him a few moments to realise where he was. "Itwasonlyadream," he told himself, then looked over to the other berth in the room to make sure he hadn't awoken his roommate.

Thank Primus, Hardhead was still in recharge. Blurr smiled sadly. He didn't want the tank to worry about him, so he was glad that he was still recharging peacefully. Still, the speedster wished he could crawl into the other berth and nestle up against the other's chassis.

"Hardhead..." he whispered to the darkness. "Doyouloveme...?"

-_TBC-_

**So... was it good? Bad? What'd you all think?**

**I already know how I want this to end (and maybe even a possible sequel!), but I have no clue what to do for filler, so suggestions are greatly appreciated, especially for fluffy situations. I don't read "X-Men" comics, but I hear Rogue has a similar problem to Blurr here, so how does she get by? Or does she not really care for romance as much? I mean, I've got a couple ideas (including one very kinky one that I may tone down quite a bit!), but like I said, the outline for this is... unpolished, at best... anyway, please leave feedback if you can!**


	3. Showing Me By Just Existing

**I don't really like playing favourites with my readers, as I'm very greatful towards ALL of you guys, but I do have to thank flamingmarsh for helping me figure out who Blurr's ex-roommate was! So special thanks to you, flamingmarsh, and not-so-special thanks to everybody else for keeping this fic alive!**

**ALSO, I am NO LONGER the only person to do anything for this underappreciated pairing! Deceptibot on deviantart has done not one, not two, but THREE HardheadXBlurr fanarts. Paired with the fact that I just got the excellent "Blurr" spotlight (which, of course, totally contradicts my own personal canon, but I don't consider G1 and IDW the same verse anyway), my week has been made. Go find these fanarts and heap praise upon 'em! **

**I don't own any of the characters. **

oOo

"Hey, Hardhead, can I talk to you?"

The tank, who was in the process of walking towards his quarters, turned around suspiciously towards the speaker, Springer. He couldn't think of any possible reason why Springer would want to talk to him, as the only thing they had in common was their main colour. And he was sure the triplechanger knew how exciting of a conversational companion he was.

"I know you're seeing Blurr. What are your intentions?"

Hardhead didn't move. What the slag was Springer getting at?

"You already know you can't touch him, so if you're playing some kind of game, I'd like to know now."

"No games," the tank shrugged briefly wondering if Springer was fully sober.

"Not being able to touch someone must get frustrating after awhile. Don't get me wrong; I don't want you to be sparkbroken anymore than I want him to be."

"You think I'm going to break his spark?" Hardhead's visor darkened.

"I want to make sure you don't."

"It's not your business."

"Don't give me that slag. I've known Blurr for a while now, and Arcee's known him for even longer, and we just want to be sure you know what you're getting into by getting involved with him. Because, so help me Primus, if he gets hurt-"

"What is _that _supposed to mean?" beneath the visor, Hardhead felt his left optic twitch with annoyance. "He's not a sparkling, Springer. You think because you've known him longer that you have a right to control a full-grown mech's actions?"

"I didn't mean that at all!" Springer was taken aback. He hadn't expected Hardhead to say this much to him in the course of a month, let alone in one conversation!

"And since you know him so well, tell me what you know about the way he starts laughing when he gets nervous. Or the way he falls into recharge with his mouth open. The way he sticks his finger up when he drinks. The way he stares at the stars, not saying a word for once. The way he polishes himself counterclockwise, not clockwise, without fail. Do you see any of that, Springer, or do you only see a child who needs to be protected and told what choices to make?" the soldier paused to sigh. He wasn't used to talking this much. "He can make his own choices, and he chose me."

The triplechanger pressed his lips together in a thin line, trying to figure out a suitable reply. Finally, he said, "I didn't mean to make you angry. I just wanted to make sure he meant as much to you as you do to him. I can see now that's, thankfully, the case."

Hardhead nodded - he could understand that, and was secretly a little embarrassed that he'd let his feelings burst out like that. Then he thought about the second part of Springer's comment - how much did he mean to Blurr? Before he could ask, though, he was interrupted by a third voice:

"I see you two are having fun!" Arcee walked up behind Springer, placing a hand on his arm.

"The things I do for you," the triplechanger replied, smiling relievedly down at the femme. Watching the pair, the tank couldn't help but feel thankful that he had no stomach to empty at the sight.

"I'm glad you did," she replied, then turned to Hardhead. "As for you, I got you a gift!" She gently placed something in his hand.

Hardhead held up her "gift" suspiciously: Saran wrap.

"Spike and Carly bought too much at the store and said we could have some," Arcee offered up an explanation, though Hardhead failed to make the connection back towards himself.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" he glared at the saran wrap. On the box, there was an image of a brunette woman placing the plastic over a plate of pastries. Arcee didn't honestly expect him to bake, did she?

"Oh," the pink femme grinned coyly, "I'm sure you two will find _plenty _of uses for it!"

Oh. The tank knew what she was getting at now. Nodding his thanks, he subspaced the stuff and walked off warily, still not entirely trusting of Springer.

oOo

Meanwhile, Blurr had been innocently, if a bit absentmindedly, minding his own business and retrieving energon when a voice behind him made him nearly drop the cube:

"Blurr, I need to speak with you."

It wasn't so much the fact that someone spoke to him, though that was part of it, but who that someone was. Tracks. His ex-roommate.

"Oh, uh, Tracks, youwereoneofthelastpeopleIexpectedtosee, wellIguessnotpeopleaswearen'treallypeople, guessI'vebeenhangngoutwithDanieltoomuch, but-"

"Where have you been?" the Firebird glared.

"Whatdoyoumean?" Blurr couldn't help but shrink back a little. Tracks had never touched him, but he still kind of scared the speedster.

"The first night you were gone, I figured you'd passed out in a friend's room or something. But then, night after night, you never showed up, and I began to notice more and more of your things disappearing. I don't like things being kept from me, Blurr, so it'd be nice if, for once, you told me what was going on!"

Blurr laughed nervously, then immediately wished he hadn't. "I, uh, well, thatis..."

"I'm waiting."

"Imovedout! I'msorryIdidn'ttellyoubefore, butItoldRodimusandIthoughthe'dtellyouforme!"

Tracks paused to take this in. "You... moved out? Without telling me first?"

"Don'tbemad..."

"How can I not be mad at this, Blurr!?"

"Don'tyellatme! Youshouldbehappy," the speedster snapped. "Youdidn'tevenlikemeanyway!"

The Firebird's optics brightened to near-white, before darkening again as his shoulders visibly wilted. "What?"

"Isaidyoushouldbehappy," Blurr looked down at the floor, avoiding eye-contact. "Youhateme, remember?"

"Blurr..." Tracks paused. "You annoy me at times, and half the time I have no idea what you're saying, but I don't _hate _you!"

The speedster snapped his head back up towards his former-roommate. "Y... Youdon'thateme?"

"Primus, Blurr, no! Look, I may not be as low-maitenance as, say, Blaster, but I never meant for anyone to think I hated them! Well, maybe Sunstreaker, but he deserves it anyway."

"I'msorryImovedoutwithouttellingyoufirst..."

"Yeah, well..." red lips curved up into a smirk. "Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so upset. As long as he's good."

"'Aslongashe's'...? Oh! Slagit, whydoeseveryoneassumeIhavetobeinterfacingtoswitchrooms!?"

"I was half kidding," Tracks confessed. "What do you say we sit together?"

Blurr smiled. "I'dlikethatverymuch!"

oOo

When Blurr got back into into the room, Hardhead was already there, fixing something in his shoulder cannon.

"Ugh," the blue mech sank down onto his own berth. "IthinkI'vehadmoreawkwardmomentswithinthissolarcyclethantherestofmylifeputtogether!" When the other didn't reply, he continued with a smile, "Notthatitisn'tworthit, ofcourse, becauseitis. Well, formeitis." The smile faded from his face. "Itisworthitforyou, right?"

Hardhead glanced up at the blue, then stood up and walked toward him.

"Uh, Hardhead? What'reyoudoingwiththatSaranWrap?"

"Answering you," the tank replied stoically as he tore off a long piece of Saran Wrap, pressed it to the speedster's mouth, and lowered his lips to the other side. This "plastic kiss" was brief, but it was more than Blurr had ever had, if his surprisingly quiet reply was any indication:

"I... you... guh!"

"Glad to hear it." As if nothing had happened, Hardhead calmly returned to fiddling with his weapon.

-_TBC_-

**I know having Hardhead talk so much is uncharacteristic for him, and I tried to acknowledge that within the text. I just kinda hoped that he cares enough for Blurr to say all these things when needed. Anyway, it was fun to come up with all these cute little idiosyncrasies for Blurr! (Though I previously hinted at the tendency to laugh when nervous!)**

**Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I liked writing it!**


	4. Only This Is True

**I am sorry this took so long. And I think it is shorter too, though I admit I didn't check. But it gave me so much trouble, and even though it's not my best, it's as good as it is gonna get. Guh. Stupid college finals eating my brain. I am sorry everybody that this one is not as good. Actually, I think it is awful, but that may be just me...**

**I don't own any of the characters. **

oOo

When Blurr had entered the target practise room, he hadn't expected anyone else to be there, and almost left, relaxing when he saw it was Arcee. He hadn't recognised her with her visor down. He liked Arcee; after Kup, she was one of the Autobots who had known him the longest. And she already knew not to touch him; not like she could have, had she wanted to. The way the practise room was set up, there were clear, glass-like walls separating where each shooter would stand. Safety precautions, he supposed.

He smiled sadly as he leaned on the laser-proof glass-like substance that separated them. It had been one of the last things Wheeljack had worked on before... well, Blurr could hardly even think about it without getting depressed. The engineer hadn't even lived long enough to name the stuff, though Perceptor did have some sort of scientific jargon that functioned as a name. Blurr could never remember it.

_PTEW! PTEW! PTEW! _The sound of Arcee firing knocked him from his thoughts.

"You'rereallygoodatthat," he noted.

"It's not hard," she didn't even look up as she continued firing. "Just pretend your target's your least favourite Decepticon!" She brought her gun down and retracted her visor, smiling at him. "You try."

When he brought up his gun and did so, she laughed. "Hey, not bad!"

"I'mnotasgoodasyouare. You'rethebestsharpshooterIknow!"

"How are things with Hardhead? Did you two like my gift?"

"Thingsaregreat!" Blurr couldn't help but smile as he thought of what she was asking about. "Ineverthankedyouforthesaranwrap, didI?"

"You don't have to thank me," Arcee leaned on the wall opposite Blurr. "I'm just glad that I could help - I was afraid it would melt!"

"Wellactually, itdoesifweleaveittoolong. Anditsmellsawful. Butotherthanthatitworksgreat!"

"Y'know, I don't think I've ever seen you so happy for such a long period of time. It's a nice change."

"Yeah, Hardheadisgreat!" He smiled, but then slowly the smile faded as he remembered something that'd been bothering him. "HeyArcee... howdoyouknowwhenyoulovesomeone?"

Arcee seemed surprised by the question, as she quickly straightened her back, smile dropping from her face altogether.

"I, well, Ididn'tmeanto- Imean, ifyoudon'twant- Imean- I,uh," he quickly stammered, automatically feeling remorse.

"Woah, calm down," she shook her head slightly. "I guess... I guess you just know. You know?"

"...youdon't?" Blurr was surprised. "ButyouandSpringer... Arcee, iseverythingalright?"

"Everything is fine," she smiled assuringly. "I just don't think I need to be rushing into anything serious right now. It's not what's right for me," she shrugged. "Don't worry about it, okay?"

Telling him not to worry was a surefire way to make him worry, of course, but Blurr merely nodded, and raised his gun to try again. Thankfully, her grin returned.

"That's more like it, Blurr! See, it isn't hard."

A few more rounds passed between the two before Arcee had to leave for her shift. Blurr, not really having much else to do, opted to stay behind. After all, marksmanship wasn't his strong point, and he didn't want to let the Autobots down if the Decepticons attacked again! He heard someone else enter shortly after, but didn't look up to see who until the green flooded the corner of his vision.

"You're not a gunner," was the only remark Hardhead made towards his roommate.

"Youneverknow!" the speedster replied, smacking a hand on the clear wall that separated them for effect. "Whatifsomethingterriblehappens? WhatifIneedtobeagunnerthen, huh? Huh, huh, huh? Whyareyoustaringatmelikethat?"

"Don't move," Hardhead commanded. Blurr watched, slightly confused, as, with surprising tenderness, the green mech brought his hand up to the clear wall where the blue's was currently resting on the other side.

Blurr smiled, resting his forehead on the wall. "Whyareyousogoodtome?" Hardhead merely smirked in reply.

Suddenly, without warning, the two brought their mouths together, separated only by the glass-like wall. It wasn't as good as the saran wrap, Blurr thought, as he couldn't feel the contours of his partner's face, but at least he could allow his lips to linger there and pretend that he could, as the walls had been designed to be impervious to pretty much anything - himself included. He wasn't sure how long he remained like that, optics offline and mouth pressed to the glass-like wall, only that Hardhead's face looking back at him when his optics again flickered to life was the only thing he ever wanted to look at again.

"You're still not a gunner," Hardhead finally said in a deadpan tone of voice. Well, so much for that perfect moment.

"IthinkIlikeitbetterwhenyoudon'ttalkatall," Blurr replied, though with a smirk to show he was only joking. "Besides, Arceetaughtmeatrick - justpretendthatit'stheDecepticonIhatethemost!"

The Decepticon he hated the most...? Suddenly, he stopped.

Oh, no.

He didn't want to remember. Not now.

"I, uh..." he began sheepishly. "Idon'tfeelwell... ImeanI'llbefine, but... uh..."

"I'll walk you to the room," Hardhead decided, and though his optics were already half filled with liquid, Blurr forced a smile. Hardhead wasn't asking, he was telling, he was assuring the blue mech of exactly what he needed to be assured of.

The pair walked in silence. It wasn't a new thing for the tank, of course, but Blurr was afraid to start talking for fear of what he may let slip. He already felt bad enough with all the hoops Hardhead went through for him.

When they got to the room, he sat on his own berth, not looking the other in the eye, watching as his left foot swung back and forth absentmindedly.

"Blurr," Hardhead began, and the blue mech almost did a double-take - his mate didn't call him by name often - "Stop. Let it out."

Unlike the first time Hardhead had seen him cry, Blurr did not sob like a sparkling. Instead, he sat silently, letting the fluids leak down his face. He felt so stupid when this happened, and even worse that the tank had to witness it.

"You really hate the Decepticons." Again, it wasn't a question. Hardhead rarely asked questions.

"Youhavenoidea..." Blurr commented miserably.

At that comment, the tank slowly got up to sit on Blurr's berth beside him. It was a small gesture - the green mech didn't even make eye contact - but, as with anything Hardhead did for him, it was more than enough.

Despite himself, Blurr smiled sadly. "Youdidn'thavetodothat." When silence followed, as he should have expected, he went on, "notjustthat. Anythingyou'vedoneforme, liketakingmeinandallthat. NotthatIdon'tappreciateit. Don'tthinkthat'sthecase, becauseIdefinitelydo! Butjustknowthatyoudidn'thaveto."

The tank paused, before replying, "Yes, I did."

The blue mech slowly wiped the tears from his face. Thankfully, this time it hadn't been a full-blown flashback. How embarrassing that would have been! "No, youreallydidn't."

Hardhead looked over. "Blurr, look at me." With an expression of surprise gracing his face, the speedster complied. "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. Yes. I did."

Not having any better of a reply, Blurr felt his faceplates heating and optics brightening. "Thankyou, Hardhead."

It didn't matter about the Decepticons or his skills with a gun or Arcee right now. Because Blurr felt like the luckiest mech in the world.

-_TBC_-

**Why didn't Arcee wear her red visor more often? I really liked it! (Obviously enough to give it a cameo here!)**

**I hope it doesn't seem like Blurr and Hardhead are moving too fast! I think I tried to mention in a previous chapter that it'd been much longer than it seems, but... yeah...**

**Only a couple more chappies left, as I had not intended this to be very long, but I keep having ideas for a sequel! Would you guys like that?**


	5. I Love You

**Oh em gee, everybody! This story now has fanart! I can die happy! Illucien has illustrated three scenes! Links in my profile if you would like to go see - go and fawn over how adorable they are and heap praise on 'em!**

**I don't own any of the characters. **

oOo

If Hardhead was surprised to see his roommate on guard shift with him that afternoon, to his credit, he didn't show it other than to announce, "I thought Tracks was on shift."

"Itradedhim," Blurr smiled. He had been smiling a lot more in the months he had been living with the tank. "Y'know, hecanbeatotalfragger, butheisn'tallbad. Exceptnowhethinkswe'reinterfacing, andonceyougetanideainhisCPU, he'sasstubbornashellaboutit."

The tank nodded his acknowledgement and took a seat on the ground next to his roommate.

Suddenly the smile that the tank had grown so accustomed to seeing faded from the blue's face. "Hardhead, canIaskyousomething?" When no answer came, Blurr asked, "It'snotthatI'mungreatful - don'teverthinkthat, nevernevernever! But... whyme?"

"Why... you?" Hardhead didn't understand what Blurr was asking of him.

"Well, Imean, mostmechsinthebasedon'tlookatmetwice. I'mjusttheonewhotalksreallyreallyfast. Andit'snotlikeIcanhelpit, youknow, Imeanit'sjustthewayIfunction. Ican'tunderstandhowanybodyelsecan'tdoit, andanyway, Iwasjustwonderingwhyyouchoseme."

The tank didn't talk for a few seconds, as if he were planning his words. "You doubt yourself too much."

"What? ButI-"

"I saw someone who needed someone else to be there. Figured I may as well; no one else was," Hardhead shrugged.

"Buteverythingyou'vedoneforme..."

"Stop," Hardhead gave his partner the smallest of smiles. "If I knew why we were put together, I'd tell you. But why does the reason matter?"

Blurr smiled in return, but it wasn't as radiant as usual. He seemed to shrink back into himself a bit, and Hardhead sighed. The tank didn't understand why Blurr needed to be assured so much, but he didn't mind doing it. After all, Blurr had been right - no one else was going to give him a second glance. He could understand wanting to keep secrets, but he'd never met anyone as guarded as Blurr was.

"Kup raised you," the tank stated, as if trying to get clarification. This seemed to take the blue by surprise.

"Y-yes. Kupislikeasecondcreatortome!"

"Your first creator..."

"Idon'twannatalkaboutit," the blue suddenly looked away. That was the absolute _last _thing he wanted to be thinking about at the moment.

Hardhead nodded, averting his gaze as well. If anyone, he could understand not wanting to talk. Though it still made him uneasy just how guarded the younger could be at times.

A few minutes passed before the silence grew too much for Blurr, and, as always, he began rambling about something that had gone on earlier that day with some of the others. The tank just listened contently. He really didn't care so much about what Blurr was talking about, but he did like the sound of the blue's voice, and if Blurr was happy rambling, then he was perfectly fine listening. And so went the rest of the shift - Blurr talking on and on, slowly showing signs of getting tired, as it was a rather late shift; and Hardhead listening, only occasionally putting a word or two out there.

But, as always, nothing good lasts forever. The shift was almost over when Hardhead decided to look up at the stars over Autobot City - and saw the all-too-familiar shadowed forms of the enemy.

"Decepticons!" he growled, interrupting whatever story his partner was on now. "Sound the alarm."

He didn't have to tell Blurr twice.

oOo

Blurr _hated _fighting. No matter where he ran, there were Decepticons, and even if he was armed, he couldn't escape the feelings of fear and panic. The other Autobots were quick to respond to the alarm, thankfully, but the Decepticons had caught them by surprise, and Rodimus wasn't at all prepared for an attack on Autobot City.

This battle would, at best, end in a draw.

When he finally was able to find shelter under a fallen structure for a few minutes, to let his body cool down and his thoughts catch up, Blurr crouched quietly, praying to Primus he wouldn't be found.

_"Hey... look what I found."_

No.

_"Ha ha ha! Struggle all you want, weakling - I've got you, now!"_

No, no, no! Blurr clutched at his helm. He hated battles, hated the Decepticons, hated the memories...

_"The little slagger kicked me! Who do you think you are, you stubborn, hard-headed little-"_

Hardhead.

Blurr looked up, suddenly drawn out of his horrid memories. Where was Hardhead?!

"Don'tbestupid, Blurr," he told himself, chuckling with nervousness. "Hardhead'soneofthebestfighterswehave! He'llbeabsolutelyfine, great, peachykeen!"

But looking out at the Decepticons and remembering how his creator had promised him that they, too, would be fine... he had to find him. He had to see him, had to be sure! That thought ran in his mind over and over as he fled from his hiding place, flitting from one spot to the next until he saw Hardhead trying to fight off Dirge and Ramjet. Ramjet had taken a lot of damage, but so had Hardhead, and Dirge looked absolutely fine. He felt sickened as he saw the green mech hunched over to the ground after taking a harsh blow to the face. His cannon was bent at an unholy angle, and his right leg damaged.

"Twoagainstone," he muttered to himself, "Butthatissounfair!"

The blue jet looked in the direction of the speedster, and grinned evilly as Blurr rushed over, getting as close to Hardhead as he dared.

"I'msorryIcouldn'tgetheresooner! Andnowyou'rehurt! Ishouldhavebeenfaster! I'msorry, I'msorry, I'msor-"

Blurr was cut off when Dirge began to cackle evilly. "Well, well, Hardhead... having some dumb kid come to your defence? That's not at all like you!"

"Dirge, don't," the tank growled gruffly, still clutching at his face.

"In fact, back then you were so antisocial-"

"I said, _don't_," the growl in the tank's voice increased, as if the tubes and pipes in his throat was clogged with fluids - they probably were. Blurr looked back and forth between Hardhead and Dirge, not fully understanding what was going on.

"Party pooper," evil grin expanding, Dirge aimed his weapon at the tank's head.

"NO!" Without fully understanding what he was doing, Blurr tackled the blue jet to the ground, wrapping his hands around the other's neck. He couldn't think at all. The only thing he knew was Hardhead was good to him and Dirge was trying to take that away - and he would _not_ let that happen. If it meant melting the Decepticon flier into a pile of blue acidic mush, then that was fine by him!

In his blind rage he had no idea how long he was on top of the jet, hearing him scream as his outer shell began to melt away where Blurr's body touched his. Finally, before passing out entirely from the sheer pain, Dirge managed to wrestle the other off, throwing him at an angle that Blurr's head hit the nearest wall, and hard.

Everything faded to black after that.

oOo

Blurr awoke in the med-bay, dazed as his optics slowly came online and he saw blurry images in reds, whites, pinks, and greens. He chuckled to himself, remembering the last time he had awoken in here and what had followed shortly after.

The soft chuckle must have gotten someone;s attention, because he soon heard, "Oh, Primus, he's online!"

He struggled to focus, but finally as able to see Arcee standing over him with a relieved expression. Kup and Rodimus stood nearby, First Aid and Perceptor working on another patient. He gasped when he recognised who it was.

"Hardhead!"

"Stay there, Blurr," Rodimus instructed, and he had no choice but to obey, shrinking back into himself. "Your systems are coming online slower than usual, especially for you. You shouldn't move."

"Are you alright?" Arcee looked incredibly worried. Why was she even in here? Oh, right - Rodimus could never say no to her.

"He's fine," Kup pat the femme's shoulder. "Took down a dirty 'con, too. Didn't know you had it in you, lad!"

Blurr struggled to remember, but the last memory he had was the feeling of sheer anger and the look on Dirge's face... Oh.

"IsHardheadgonnabeokay? Iwon'tbeabletorestunlessIknowhe'sokay! C'mon, Perceptor, FirstAid, Rodimus, someonetellmehe'sgonnabeokay, Ireally, really, reallyneedtoknow!"

"Calm down, Blurr," First Aid instructed. "We're going to try to bring him online now. Perceptor, if you will."

The microscope nodded, flipping a switch. The tank shot up with a gasp, then looked around wildly, shards of his cracked visor shooting across the room as he did so. When he saw Blurr, he calmed down a little.

Suddenly, the blue mech froze. He had know Hardhead's visor was cracked. But he hadn't expected the exposed optic to be blazing red!

"Your..." Blurr began, but even he couldn't think of a way to end that sentence, except to bring a trembling hand to his own face.

Hardhead brought a hand up to feel the crack in the visor, then suddenly looked down at his leg. "...I was manufactured in Kaon."

Kaon. The one city on Cybertron that had always been traditionally militaristic, traditionally Decepticon. When he thought about it, it explained exactly why the tank was such a good fighter, and why Dirge had said such things. Blurr felt sick, and Hardhead looked it. "YouweremadetobeaDecepticon?"

Hardhead shook his head, unbelieving that he was saying any of this at all, "I could never be like them."

Suddenly, Blurr felt even sicker. Hardhead was made in Kaon, but he _wasn't _a Decepticon. He had never been a Decepticon, and he'd offed a good number of Decepticons, and the blue mech couldn't believe that - even for a split second - he had doubted this. Additionally, all Hardhead had done for him - taken him in, listened when he needed someone, protected him, _rescued_ him... and suddenly, he knew. He didn't know how, but he knew.

"If this changes things..." Hardhead began, unknowing how he was going to complete that sentence.

"Thisdoesn'tchangeanything!" Blurr blurted out, feeling the fluids in his body heat up with embarrassment. "Hardhead, aftereverythingthat'shappened, howwouldthatchangeanything?! Iloveyou!"

"..." the tank seemed, for once, surprised. But he didn't say anything, and had it been anybody else, Blurr would have been nervous. But before the blue could feel anything, Perceptor exchanged looks with First Aid, Rodimus, and Kup, who all nodded.

"Ah, Blurr?" the microscope placed a hand gently on Blurr's leg, as if there were nothing to it. When he showed no physical signs of pain, both Blurr and Hardhead stared at the microscope. Perceptor smiled knowingly, "I believe I may have found a potential solution to your predicament. That is, if you're willing to participate in the experiment."

Unsure what to say Blurr nodded vigourously - _anything _would be preferable to this!

"As I predicted," Perceptor noted, removing his hand from the blue's leg. "Blurr, follow me."

_-TBC-_

**That's right I'm ending this chapter there. I'm such an evil bitch sometimes. Next chapter is the last, as I had planned from the beginning to make this around five or six chapters.**


	6. Without Question

**Last chapter everyone! Aren't you all excited? Oh, I feel like I have been waiting so long to give these two the closure they properly deserve! I hope you all enjoy my attempt at such...**

**The cure seems so obvious, you guys will probably hate me for not making them realise it sooner...**

**I don't own any of the characters. **

oOo

Blurr was hardly listening to what Perceptor was saying, babbling on and on as he coated him with the slightly-slick substance. Not that he usually understood half of the scientist's scientific jargon anyway, but even so it was hard for him to focus on anything. He was so excited and anxious, his thoughts were for once going faster than even he could keep up. How long had he been afraid to do anything but run, for fear of being any slower and accidentally bumping into someone? How long had he sat alone at night, hands clasped together so he could pretend that maybe this was what it felt like to have someone hold his hand? How long had Hardhead, and even before that, Kup, watched him as he broke down, unable to provide him the contact his body so desperately craved?

None of that mattered anymore. Not if this worked.

"...called Corrostop," Perceptor was saying. "I had invented it sometime ago for the purpose of the removal and prevention of corrosion of any sort. Naturally, the entire base is coated with it, which I would suppose is why you're generally able to walk about and leave it unscathed. It's regrettable nobody thought to try it on someone like yourself sooner, but we haven't exactly had a specimen like yourself."

Blurr nodded numbly. As if he knew what any of that meant. Did it matter what it meant? It meant he would finally have some hope of anything that vaguely resembled "normal". With Hardhead. Who he loved, he was sure of it.

"Now, you must realise this isn't permanent. You'll be needing to come see me monthly for treatment as the radiation will eventually eat at even my Corrostop."

He shuddered slightly as the microscope, still babbling on scientifically, stopped the continuous spray, then waited for it to dry completely.

For the first time since he'd been walked to the lab, Blurr spoke:

"Isurehopethisworks. Reallyreallyreally - Idon'tknowhowmuchmoredisappointmentIcanhandle..."

Perceptor looked away with an unreadable expression. "...I know, Blurr."

oOo

At first, Blurr - feeling anxious to see just what he could do coated with this junk - was confused as to why Hardhead wasn't in the room waiting for him, until he checked his internal clocks and remembered it was Carly's birthday. Not so long ago, Jazz may have thrown a wild party. Since the deaths of Optimus Prime and the others, however, Jazz kept to himself and that duty mostly was left to Blaster. Though maybe not as wild as in the past, there would definitely be a party going on. Now that he was listening for it, he heard traces of music coming from the Rec Room after all - Elton John, maybe. Carly liked him.

Upon entering the Rec Room (Yes, it was definitely Elton John playing), his optics searched the dimly lit room. He saw the twins playfully teasing each other, Rodimus nervously chatting up Arcee, Blaster talking to some minibots... and there, in the back corner of the room was the stoic green tank he had come to so adore.

He was leaned against the wall inconspicuously where no one would really think to look, sipping from a cube of glowing bright pink, presumedly high grade - Blurr made a mental note to try and break him of that habit. His visor was still cracked, but the crack was covered with a makeshift eye patch, out of what looked like one of Spike's old shirts or something.

The blue used his speed to his advantage and ran across the room unnoticed, slowing down enough to jump into the other's arms and get himself properly entangled, cube of liquid knocked to the floor as his eager young lips searched out the other's, coated in high-grade energon. Kissing the green was nothing like he had imagined - it was better.

For one, Hardhead didn't melt. Blurr felt like he was going to, but in a good way.

When he had gotten his fill - for now - Blurr pulled away, chuckling nervously, but not taking his arms off the other. It was too dark for anyone who wasn't really looking at them to tell anyway. Besides, now that he knew he _could _touch the other again, he had no intention of stopping. "Sorryforthat..."

"Don't apologise," a smirk graced the tank's hard features. Blurr briefly wondered if the other was drunk, but didn't really care at the moment, as high-grade tended to make Hardhead open up and talk a lot more anyway. Still, he couldn't help but point his chin at the cube he'd knocked to the floor, contents splattered on their feet.

"Justhowmanyofthosehaveyouhad? Chromedomesaidyouwereanannoyngdrunk. Notjustannoying - irritating, obnoxious, superduperannoyingtothemax!" He was babbling, really, for lack of anything to say.

"Chromedome is an idiot," Hardhead huffed. "It's only my second. And I hope you plan on replacing it."

"Noway," Blurr smiled, resting his forehead on his partner's chest and feeling a big, strong hand resting on the small of his back. This was so wonderful - he couldn't believe he could really do this. Something that everyone else took for granted was like a dream come true to him! "Howdoyoufeel?"

"Tipsy," the tank answered honestly, without any hesitation.

"But, Imean, I'mnothurtingyouamI?" he moved his head so his chin was now the part resting on the tank's chest, so that he could look up into the partially-coloured blue visor. "You'dtellmeifIwas, wouldn'tyou? Youwould, right? Right?"

The smirk returned to that yellow face. "I'm fine. Perceptor really did it?"

"Isn'titjustthebest?" The speedster beamed. "Ican'tbelievethisisreallyhappening. Imean, itobviouslyis, soIguessIdobelieveit, butIjustneverthoughtI'dbeabletoever... youwannaknowwhatitis? YourememberthatCorrostopstuff?"

"The cure for Cosmic Rust," Hardhead didn't hesitate for even a millisecond with his reply; he was now at the point where he could understand Blurr perfectly no matter how excited the blue was. He smacked himself in the forehead lightly with his free hand. "Why didn't I think of that?"

Before Blurr could think up a suitable reply, the song changed. It was still Elton John, of course, as that was the current CD, but a different song, nonetheless. Normally, he would have paid it no mind except that he'd heard this song before, in a movie or something that Daniel had been watching. But this version was slower, and much prettier.

And then, the normally stoic tank had to go and surprise him by saying, "Dance with me."

"Youwanttodance?! Oh, Primus, youmustreallybeatleastalittlebitdrunkthen, huh? Butwhatifsomeoneseesus?"

"No one will see," the green mech was already swaying the blue back-and-forth in the corner they stood in. Blurr smiled slightly, a little nervous, as he looked up into that blue visor.

_"The more I learn,"_ the musician's voice sang melodiously from the speakers, _"The more I see, the less the world impassions me."_

The blue mech rested the side of his head on the chest of his mate again, just happy to be there and praying to Primus nobody saw them, though at this point most of the Autobots were really to drunk to notice or care. He really couldn't believe how right it felt to finally be in the arms of this particular mech. Underneath the tough exterior, Hardhead was the nicest 'bot Blurr could have ever hoped to get mixed up with!

_"The hungry heart, the roving eye, have come to rest, do not apply."_

He couldn't even remember how long it had been, exactly, since he had felt so happy. And never - _never _- had he been held by anybody and had it feel as good as it did when his maker used to.

_"The frantic chase, the crazy ride."_

The war with the Decepticons, all the fights with Tracks, the dirty looks and insults other 'bots gave him when they thought he couldn't hear them, his resentment that he wasn't allowed to become an athlete, Hardhead's past as well as his own - absolutely _none _of that meant a thing to Blurr at that moment in time. Because at that moment, there was nowhere he would rather be. Hardhead gave him all the stability he had never had.

_"The thrill has gone. I step aside."_

"I'd believe in anything," the rough voice joining Elton John's surprised Blurr out of his reflecting. "Were it not for you showing me, by just existing, only this is true..."

"Hardhead?" He turned his head up. Chromedome had been right - his mate really did want to sing when drunk. But he hadn't expected it to be just for him like this.

"I love you," the tank whispered as the singer sang it over the stereo.

Blurr broke into a wide grin. "Doyoumeanthatorareyoujustsingingalong? Because, youknow, Chromedometoldme-"

"Didn't I already say Chromedome was an idiot? And I don't say things I don't mean."

The tank expected him to talk, maybe even babble, in reply; Blurr just knew it. But, perhaps because of the green mech, he was beginning to learn that sometimes actions really did speak louder than words. So, grinning mischievously all the while, he leaned forward and surprised the other with another kiss; his second real one ever.

And nothing else in the universe meant a damn thing to him.

-_fin-_

**I almost can't believe that this is over. It's been quite a ride, and one that I hope you have all enjoyed as much as I have. I do have some plans for a sequel, so we'll see if anything ever comes of that. Hopefully by that time someone else will have written something for these two? Yes? No? Maybe?**

**And, yes, the title was from a song all along. Links to both versions (slow and slightly faster) in my LJ.**


End file.
